Posted by Christian Jaehn-Kreibaum
John Cairns introduced today's guest speaker, Christian Jaehn-Kreibaum, (pictured far right, standing next to his daughter Kate with Rotarians Ashley Rushnell, John Cairns and Andrew Bandler) a very good friend, who works towards positive positions versus reactive.  Christian was born in West Berlin in 1960, growing up in Germany, a country divided.  He pursued a career in financial planning and came to Canada in 1999 and provides advice on Safe and Tax Effective Retirement Income.  Christian is the Past President of the Kiwanis Club in Trenton and is very involved.  He is a stand-up paddleboard coach and in May 2015 took part in Dancing with the Stars with Tracy Bray.  He is here today to speak about his daughter's journey to better health after discovering she had Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2007.
 
Christian was very pleased to be able to speak to the Club about what healthy eating can really do for you.  His daughter is here with him today.  She was 14 when first diagnosed, complaining about a sore shoulder and wrists.  At first, Christian and his wife thought it was growing pains, but the doctor thought it could be something else and referred them to Sick Kid's Hospital in Toronto where she was diagnosed with an auto immune disease, Polyarticular juvenile idiopathic rheumatoid arthritis.  Kate needed eight different medications and a needle every Thursday night.  Christian has always been a big fan of household remedies and sought out every practitioner he could think of, even traditional Chinese medicine.  Kate suffered from severe acid reflux and heartburn.  In 2013, Christian met a lady who had changed the way she was eating and had a remarkable recovery from her ailments.  She suggested Christian seek out Dr. Jason Lee, a naturopath, who took Kate and the family down the path of an elimination diet.  Food can be your best friend or your enemy.  Kate is now eating differently, all plant based food.
 
So what can we learn from this.  Health is your choice.  Based on statistics one quarter of Canadians take drugs, 45% are overweight and every seven minutes someone dies from heart disease.  Most of the food we eat is processed versus plant based food.  People need to focus on improving their blood flow to support their brain, their eyes and their heart.  Processed food is hard to digest and causes hardening of the arteries.  Lose waist........lose waste.  Eat more fiber (fruit and vegetables) to make your food digest easier.  Watch Forks Over Knives on Netflix. Christian was pleased about the recent changes to the Canada Food Guide.  Kate's health has improved and she proved it by doing a little dance number with Dex.  In summary, Christian encouraged everyone to use food as your medicine.
 
Ashley Rushnell thanked Christian for sharing  his passion about living a healthy lifestyle.  People can benefit from him sharing his personal experience and research.